Imperial Army
The Imperial Army is the primary ground combat branch of the Imperial Military. It is considered to be the largest branch of the Imperial military and at it's peak contained trillions of soldiers. Unlike the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps it is considered to be cannon fodder to the Stormtroopers. The Imperial Army is often used for initial combat operations and garrison/security duty. Countless worlds will see a small, if any presence of Imperial Stormtroopers but will have large swathes of Imperial Army troopers located on their planet. The Imperial Army is led by the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army, whomever is appointed to this position is automatically granted the rank of Grand General and is senior to all other officers, including other Grand Generals, of the Imperial Army. The position of Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army is widely considered to be thankless and is charged with managing a massive Imperial war machine. The Chief of Staff sometimes holds the leadership of the Operations and Planning Division as the Chief of Army Operations and Planning to carry out full executive leadership authority of the Imperial Army. Overview of leadership The Imperial Army is led by the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army, whomever is appointed to this position is automatically granted the rank of Grand General and is senior to all other officers, including other Grand Generals, of the Imperial Army. The position of Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army is widely considered to be thankless and is charged with managing a massive Imperial war machine. The Chief of Staff sometimes holds the leadership of the Operations and Planning Division as the Chief of Army Operations and Planning to carry out full executive leadership authority of the Imperial Army. The Imperial Army maintains several departments, corps and other named branches. The Imperial Army assigns Troopers, Trooper, 1st Class, Sergeant, Sergeant, 1st Class and Sergeant Major's to various branches and they carry out their duties. Order of battle The numbers for the Imperial Army are difficult to place and the tables of organization for units vary from unit to unit. The Imperial Army provides a "standard" order of battle that does not include support staff, headquarters units, droids, or additional personnel. *Oversector Army - Oversector Armies comprises all Sector Armies within its area of operation. The Oversector Army is commanded by the corresponding Oversector's Grand Moff; however in Oversectors that are regularly underneath combatant conditions, the Grand Moff will traditionally appoint an Imperial Army officer as the "Priority Sector Army Commander" sometimes called an "Oversector General". *Sector Army - Sector Armies are commanded by a General with the positional title of Surface Marshal. While the Imperial Army makes note of Sector Armies in the order of battle the Sector Army is ultimately underneath the command of the local regional governor, known as a Moff. The Sector Army comprises all Imperial Army assets within any given Sector, therefore composition and numbering of combatant soldiers are difficult to place. *Systems Army - 6 Armies, 1,228,800 men. Commanded by a General with the positional title of High General. *Army - 4 Corps, 204,800 men. Commanded by a General. *Corps - 4 Battlegroups/Divisions, 51,200 men. Commanded by a Major General. *Battle Group/Division - 4 Regiments, 12,800 men. Commanded by a High Colonel, sometimes a Major General. *Regiment - 5 Battalions, 3,200 men. Commanded by a Colonel. *Battalion - 4 Companies, 640 men. Commanded by a Major. *Company - 4 Platoons, 160 men. Commanded by a Captain. *Platoon - 4 squads, 40 men. Commanded by a Lieutenant. *Squad - The basic unit of the Imperial Army, comprised of 10 troopers. Commanded by a Sergeant. Organic units *Brigade - Three to four Battalions of troops, armor or other units. The brigade is an organic unit which can be made up of units on the mend or combined units. Ranks and positional titles The Imperial Army makes much less use of positional titles than the Imperial Navy does but does indeed use them. For instance, any officer assigned to command operations on a planet is usually known as "Field Commander" despite the fact that the title is not used within the Imperial Army. This is similar to how a General will use the positional titles of Surface Marshal (Sector) and High General (System) are used for a General with a specific assignment. At time a Grand Moff might appoint an Imperial Army officer as a "Priority Sector Army Commander" also known as the "Oversector General" who acts as the Grand Moff's subordinate as the "Priority Sector High Commander"; this is done for command of an Oversector Army. Similar, in the Imperial Navy traditionally the Grand Moff will appoint a "Priority Sector Navy Commander" sometimes called a "Oversector Admiral" who acts as a subordinate to the Grand Moff in command of the Oversector Group. Imperial Army Officers Imperial Army Officers, including the Grand General(s) retain a lot less prestige compared to the their navy counter-parts who are perceived to be far more important. While the Imperial Army provides a vital service to the citizens of the Empire and is comprised of a wide variety of Imperial citizens, the Imperial Army and to a wide degree Imperial Army officers are seen as less important than Imperial Navy officers who tend to be much more egotistical, arrogant as well as more politically appointed. The Imperial Military Promotion Board has a minority of Imperial Army Officers on it and is widely responsible for attempting to advance Imperial Army interest when it comes to important assignments. As a whole the Imperial Army Officer Corps has a better relationship with their subordinates comparative to that of the Imperial Navy. Traditionally, officers above the rank of Colonel are not combatant commanders and are officers charged with overarching duties of management. Staff positions In the Imperial Army there were numerous "Staff" positions which an Imperial Army Officer could be assigned. Staff positions were known by their designation of "Staff Company 1" commonly known as "SC1" which would be the second-in-command of an Imperial Army Company. 1 was the first officer, 2 was the logistics officer, 3 the medical officer, 4 was the technical officer and 5 was the headquarters officer. Uniforms and equipment The Imperial Army uses green khaki uniforms for all ranks. Imperial Army Troopers are equipped with basic gear including plastisteel chest pieces and helmets which offer basic protection. The average Imperial Army trooper is less trained and less equipped then an Imperial Stormtrooper, who are expertly trained and indoctrinated. Members of the Imperial Army assigned to the Army Air Corps, Army Engineering Corps, Imperial Armor Corps and Imperial Artillery Corps wear their own distinctive uniforms that still draw on the basic khaki green. Imperial Army officer wear rank plaques similar all branches of the Imperial military and government, they use code cylinder which provide access and information regarding the wearer. The Imperial Army uses all manner of equipment, standardization is difficult due the ever-expansive size of the Imperial Army. Gallery Image:ImperialATST.png|Imperial Armor Corps AT-ST Image:ImperialATAT.png|Imperial Armor Corps AT-AT Image:ImperialArmyAirCorpsTechnician.png|Imperial Army Air Corps Technician Image:ImperialArmyTrooper.png|Imperial Army Troopers outfitted with harsh environment gear Image:ImperialArmyMudTrooper.png|Imperial Army Mudtrooper Category:Imperial military